Life of Pi is a story about survival, and its protagonist, Pi, is an embodiment of the will to survive. It would be wrong to say that Pi never gives up in Life of Pi: “You might think I lost all hope at that point. I did.” Pi is a fairly realistic, somewhat philosophical character and does not breeze through the story with endless optimism. The book seems to be making the case that the will to live almost acts as an external force.

One reading of the book is that Richard Parker, the tiger, never existed in a physical sense (his existence being thrown into doubt at the end of the story); he is a manifestation of Pi’s own will to live, without whom death would have been all but assured—“[W]ithout Richard Parker, I wouldn’t be alive today to tell you my story.”

In that reading, the will to live is an aggressive, monstrous force. A strong, terrifying force that never gives up: “I had no idea a living being could sustain so much injury and go on living.” Whether Richard Parker is a metaphor for the will to live or not, Life of Pi inspires readers because it believes the will to live is a powerful force, dormant within human beings until the situation calls for it:

Something in me did not want to give up on life, was unwilling to let go, wanted to fight to the very end. Where that part of me got the heart, I don’t know.